Tamera Alexander's Blog, page 20

Fun in the Sun Giveaway WINNER (and favorite Summer Desserts)

Thanks to everyone who entered the Fun in the Sun Giveaway sponsored by the Writes of Passage authors. We had nearly 9,000 entries and appreciate all the "liking" and "friending" that went on over the past two weeks. Now for big announcement!
The winner of all these novels:

is Deb Forbes!
Congrats, Deb!  We'll get your twelve novels in the mail to you, so be watching for them. If you would, we'd love to have a picture of you with the books for the blog, too. 
I love summer recipes and here's a great one to try: Lemon Syllabub, a staple of Belle Meade Plantation in the 1800s and a featured recipe in To Whisper Her Name. Syllabub is light, cold, creamy, and delicious. And as you're whipping up this scrumptious confection, you'll also be whipping up a little history too.


Lemon Syllabub (Click for recipe)

Another personal favorite I've made many times is this Creamy Praline Pecan Pie that you can make ahead and enjoy for days after. Oh, it's so good! (Isn't it, Linda? Who puts chocolate on hers)

Creamy Praline Pecan Pie (Click for recipe)
What dessert will you be making for 4th of July this year? Please share the recipe, if you're willing. And have a safe and fun-filled holiday as we celebrate this great nation.
Tammy

#7 Amazon Kindle Best Seller List

Thanks, friends, for making TO WHISPER HER NAME's "Daily Deal Day" FOR $1.99 such fun. You guys nudged the book all the way to #7 on Amazon's Kindle Best Seller List. And I'm so grateful!

$1.99 Amazon Daily Deal - To Whisper Her Name

Pick up TO WHISPER HER NAME, a Belle Meade Plantation novel for only $1.99 today only on KINDLE. It's an Amazon Daily Deal all day Friday, June 21st! Thanks for sharing!

Fun in the Sun Writes of Passage Blog Giveaway

Hilton Head Beach, South CarolinaIt's summertime! Time for vacations and stay-vacations and everything in between. 

If you could travel anywhere this summer, all expenses paid, where would you go? South of France? Disneyland? A patisserie in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower?
Would you climb Machu Picchu? Or brave Mount Everest? What about snagging a lazy patch of beach on the Florida coast? Or perhaps the sun-drenched west coast is your preference. Or fishing in Alaska? Or cruising the Mediterranean? Or how about touring the castles of Europe?
Machu Picchu (Lost City of the Incas)built in 1480, at the heightof the Inca Empire (Peru)Personally, the last one would be my first choice. I'd love to tour the castles of Europe. That's been on my bucket list for years. I'd start with Highclere Castle just in case the Granthams are home, then I'd move on from there. Wanna come?
It's fun to dream! If you're like me, wherever and whenever you go on vacation, you take a book (or several) with you. No vacation is complete for me without time to read.

I was cooking turkey burgers Sunday afternoon and making Black Bean Salsa (oh so delicious, recipe here) while also listening to an audiobook, and my husband came in shaking his head. "You're reading even as you're cooking?"
Yep! Never waste a minute.
Reading allows me to take mini-vacations. I can travel back in time to 19th century Colorado Territory, to Missouri, Michigan, Idaho, Tennessee, Texas, Montana––even 18th century England––and never leave my cozy reading chair. And so can you!
The authors at Writes of Passage are hosting a  Fun in the Sun Giveaway  in which you can win 12 bestselling print novels to enhance your "fun in the sun" this summer.

The Girl in the Gatehouse by Julie KlassenTo Win Her Heart by Karen WitemeyerA Noble Groom by Jody HedlundTrouble in Store by Carol CoxThe Quarryman's Bride by Tracie PetersonA Hidden Truth by Judith MillerBetrayal by Robin Lee HatcherFrom a Distance by Tamera AlexanderEve's Daughters by Lynn AustinMy Heart Remembers by Kim Vogel SawyerThe Promise Box by Tricia GoyerForevermore by Cathy Marie Hake
Click  here  to enter the giveaway which ends on July 1st at 11:59 p.m. (central time).
The winner will be announced on Writes of Passage on my post Tuesday, July 2nd.It's easy to enter. All you need to do is LIKE all twelve of our Facebook pages. That's it. Then you're in the drawing. And if you're having issues, please check your JAVA settings. You must have JAVA "on" to enter Rafflecopter contests.
Now tell me, if you could go anywhere this summer, where would it be? And if you're free to join me on an all-expenses-paid tour of the castles of Europe, leave a comment. As soon as I happen upon a wealthy benefactor, I'll buy our tickets!
Tammy

Summer Reading Delight GIVEAWAY

Hey friends! I'm cleaning bookshelves again and am eager to share these fabulous summer reads! Interested? It's easy to enter. See details below (and in the body of the giveaway itself).

Use THIS LINK if you're on a mobile device.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Simply LIKE my Facebook page (if you don't already). 
FOR EXTRA CHANCES TO WIN, post a quick 2-3 sentence review of any of my nine books (complete list here: www.tameraalexander.com/books) on either CBD.com or AMAZON or GOODREADS. You can post 1 review per day, and each review earns you can extra 5 chances to win. 
SUMMER READING DELIGHT GIVEAWAY includes the following books:
A Wedding to Remember by Annalisa Daughety / The Trouble with Cowboys by Denise Hunter / Love Finds You by Annalisa Daughety and Gwen Fordl Faulkenberry / Betrayal by Robin Lee Hatcher / After All by Deborah Raney / Bees in the Butterfly Garden by Maureen Lang / The Last Plea Bargain by Randy Singer / Beyond the Storm by Carolyn Zane / Smitten by Colleen Coble, Kristin Billerbeck, Diann Hunt, and Denise Hunter / Facing Every Mom's Fears by Allie Pleiter / When the Smoke Clears by Lynette Eason / When a Heart Stops by Lynette Eason 
As always, thanks for reading! And best wishes as you enter the giveaway.

Friends and Cimetieres

Got this note and picture on Facebook yesterday from fabulous reader and friend Sue Beldyga who's currently in Paris…


Amy & I visited Cimetiere De Montmartre in Paris today and thought of you! Thanks for the memories!




How cool is this! Thanks, Sue, for visiting Cimetiere de Montmartre where the opening scene in Remembered takes place (after I visited that same cemetery in 2006). Love it!



Here's a picture of me and Sue when we met last fall (finally! after being FB friends forever) at Belle Meade Plantation for the release of To Whisper Her Name. 



Hugs to you, Sue! And have fun in Paris!

Walking through Proverbs

I'm reading through Proverbs each month this year, and since it's the 4th… 



This scripture stood out to me this morning. And this was my prayer… Lord, teach me to prize wisdom far more than I do right now, not for earthly gain or for any tangible measure of achievement here. But so that I may be closer to you, Jesus. And more like you.

Thanks to my husband, Joe, for snapping this picture with his iPhone the other evening after a storm blew through. Glorious! (And this is the "raw" picture, no Instagram or iPhoto touch ups.)

I've said it before, but I'll say it again… If the fallen earth is this beautiful, just imagine what Heaven will be like!

We usually take walks every day. Are you a walker? And do you take pics as you journey along? 

The bestseller you've never heard of

Maria Susanna Cummins1827-1866
Do you know the name of the bestselling novel of the 19th century? 
Come on... Think. You know it.

You've most likely (oh, I hope!) read it… 
Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe.
Now, do you know the second bestselling novel of the 19th century? Second in sales only to Harriet's book? 
It's the bestseller you've never heard of…
The Lamplighter by Maria Susanna Cummins, and it was her first book. Within eight weeks of publication, it sold 40,000 copies, and totaled 70,000 by the end of its first year in print. Not too shabby, Miss Cummins. Even by today's standards. 
She wrote it "without any thought of achieving reputation," the publishers note in a 1902 edition records. "It was written originally for the entertainment of one of her nieces during a period of illness, with no intention of publication." Can you imagine? (I can't.)
The Lamplighter was first published as the work of an anonymous author, but Miss Cummins' identity was soon linked with the book, and she became a frequent contributor to The Atlantic Monthly, and other popular periodicals of her time.
Today, the novel is almost completely unknown, and as I read online, "its very popularity was used to condemn the novel in literary critical circles" during Miss Cummins' lifetime. (Not to worry, Miss Cummins, you showed them!)
She wrote other books, including Mabel Vaughan (1857), but none of which had the same success as her first…

About the book: 
The Lamplighter  tells the story of the development of a young, orphaned girl into a resilient, capable young woman who gets her man––her childhood compatriot––but does just fine on her own, thank you, until he returns at the end of the book from his quest to make his fortune overseas. 
About the author (from online sources):
Maria Susanna Cummins was born in Salem, Massachusetts, on April 9, 1827. She was the daughter of Honorable Judge David Cummins and Maria F. Kittredge, and was the eldest of four children from that marriage. 
The Cummins family resided in the neighborhood of Dorchester in Boston, Massachusetts. Cummins' father encouraged her to become a writer at an early age. She studied at Mrs. Charles Sedgwick's Young Ladies School in Lenox, Massachusetts.
In 1854, at age 27, she published the novel The Lamplighter, a sentimental book which was widely popular and which made its author well-known. One reviewer called it "one of the most original and natural narratives". 

And the best thing for us today: It's free on Amazon for your Kindle. Also for your Nook. 

I've already started reading it and am really enjoying it. Hope you'll check it out. There's something about reading a book that was popular in another era that gives insight to that era like nothing else. After all, we are what we read, right?
Do you ever read classics like this? What are you currently reading? Me? I'm reading The Lamplighter by Maria Susanna Cummins  and The Storykeeper by Jodi Picoult, among others.
Thanks for helping keep history alive,Tammy

Taking something for granted?

Taken for granted: to expect someone or something to be always available to serve in some way without thanks or recognition; to value someone or something too lightly.
In the past week, I've had the pleasure of meeting two separate groups of readers at both the Belmont Mansion, the setting of A Lasting Impression…

And the Belle Meade Plantation, the setting of To Whisper Her Name…
Both gatherings were such fun. We had a great time together walking through history and seeing where both Adelicia Acklen, and the Harding and Jackson families lived. 
Last Thursday, I met with the men and women of the Belmont Tower Society in the grand salon at Belmont and shared about the home and the woman, Adelicia Acklen, who truly made a lasting impression on me as I wrote (and continue to write) about Belmont's history.
Meeting with the Belmont Tower Societyin Adelicia's grand salonReading from Adelicia's personal letters in her home was a special treat for me
Then yesterday at Belle Meade, I had the pleasure of joining nineteen lovely ladies from Hendersonville, TN who had read To Whisper Her Name and who took the To Whisper Her Name tour at Belle Meade. Which begins at the Old Harding Cabin and concludes with the mansion. 
On the front steps of Belle MeadeWhat fun gals!
Visiting and signing at lunchat the Harding House restaurant at Belle Meade (delicious!)
Visiting the Old Harding Cabin where Bob Green, the head hostler, and Ridley (hero in TWHN) lived


In visiting with these groups, I was reminded of something I'm guilty of having taken for granted recently…

Sometimes in the midst of back-to-back deadlines––when the story and/or the characters are driving me crazy, and the words won't come, or else they come but not in the way I want them to, or when life happens and so many interruptions pull me away from writing, or when I simply lack the discipline (ouch!) of focusing on the task at hand––I lose sight of what a blessing writing really is. 
Yes, it's work. Yes, it's sometimes most times frustrating. And no, it doesn't come easily. But really, what job does?
There are moments, like in recent days, when I'm reminded of what a blessing it is to get to write stories that are published and then read by others. Then, as if that wasn't enough, I get to meet these dear readers, share our lives and our faith in the Lord, and discuss these journeys inspired by history, by real people who lived. And then to discover that you embrace these characters and love them like I do is…well, a blessing beyond words.
A blessing that I take for granted all too often, one of the greatest blessings of writing…is connecting with you, the reader, and hearing your stories. Hearing about God's faithfulness in your experiences and encouraging each other in this life. Thank you for sharing so freely!
What in your life do you appreciate and yet sometimes take for granted? A career you love but that might drive you crazy on occasion? People you adore but who sometimes try your patience? An answer to prayer that you thought was the answer you wanted, but now you're not so sure? 
Even as I type those questions, I'm thinking of the families of the victims of the tornado in Oklahoma yesterday. And especially the parents of those precious, precious children. Let's keep them close in prayer, friends.
What is it that you need to be more grateful for today? I'm making my list. What's on yours?
Tammy
A few more pics…

With June at the Old Harding Cabin
With Susan Jacobson at the Old Harding Cabin
Signing books at lunch

Things my mother taught me

In honor of Mother's Day this Sunday, I'm remembering things my mother taught me... Join me at Writes of Passage today and share what your mother has taught you!

Below, my beautiful mom, June Gattis, circa 1952...